CN performs specific risk assessments on railway lines carrying substantial amounts of dangerous goods, known as Key Routes, looking at factors such as population and emergency response capabilities. Under new Transport Canada regulations, CN will incorporate input from Canadian municipalities along these Key Routes as part of those risk assessments.

"Nothing is more important at CN than safety, and we recognize that safety is also of the utmost importance to communities we serve," said Sam Berrada, vice president of safety and sustainability at CN. "We believe rail safety is a shared responsibility and look forward to continuing our ongoing partnerships with communities as we advance rail safety."

CN has created a webpage where municipalities can submit input for the assessments. The webpage debuted during the annual meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Winnipeg.

Last year, during FCM's annual meeting in Edmonton, CN launched a campaign urging first responders to sign up for AskRail, a mobile application that gives them real-time information about the contents of rail cars. More than 2,000 firefighters, police officers and emergency managers across CN's network have downloaded the application.

CN annually shares information about the nature and volume of dangerous goods moving through specific communities with hundreds of municipal emergency response departments across Canada.

Also this week, CN issued its 2016 CN in Your Community Report describing the company's role as a backbone of the North American economy and how the railroad contributes to the local communities it serves.

CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries -- serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C.,

Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.